The Fairmile D motor torpedo boat was a type of

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

motor torpedo boat (MTB) and

motor gunboat The motor gun boat (MGB) was a small, high-speed British military vessel of the Second World War, which was armed with a mix of guns, in contrast to the physically similar motor torpedo boat (MTB), whose main offensive weapon were torpedoes. ...

(MGB)Reynolds, Leonard C. ''Dog Boats at War: Royal Navy D Class MTBs and MGBs, 1939–1945.'' 2000. designed by

Bill Holt Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

and conceived by

Fairmile Marine Fairmile Marine was a British boat building company founded in 1939 by the car manufacturer Noel Macklin. Macklin used the garage at his home at Cobham Fairmile in Surrey for manufacturing assembly which is why the boats he designed came to be ...

for the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

. Nicknamed "Dog Boats", they were designed to combat the known advantages of the German

E-boats E-boat was the Western Allies' designation for the fast attack craft (German: ''Schnellboot'', or ''S-Boot'', meaning "fast boat") of the Kriegsmarine during World War II; ''E-boat'' could refer to a patrol craft from an armed motorboat to a lar ...

over previous British coastal craft designs. They were bigger than earlier MTB or

(MGB) designs (which were typically around 70 feet) but slower, at 30 knots compared to 40 knots.

History

Unlike the Fairmile B designs, the Dog Boats were only produced in component form in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

. Some were built for the RAF's Marine Branch for use in the long range

air-sea rescue Air-sea rescue (ASR or A/SR, also known as sea-air rescue), and aeronautical and maritime search and rescue (AMSAR) by the ICAO and International Maritime Organization, IMO, is the coordinated search and rescue (SAR) of the survivors of emergenc ...

for downed airmen. 229 boats were built between 1942 and 1945. Many versions were produced or converted from existing boats; MGB, MTB, MA/SB, LRRC and post-war FPB. Since the Fairmile D could be fitted out with a mix of armament that gave it the capabilities of both a motor gunboat and a motor torpedo boat, the MGB designation was dropped. Two captured boats were put in Kriegsmarine service. Today the D-type is a popular choice among boat modelers. There are no known survivors, other than two abandoned wrecks, one in

Chatham Chatham may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Canada * Chatham Islands (British Columbia) * Chatham Sound, British Columbia * Chatham, New Brunswick, a former town, now a neighbourhood of Miramichi * Chatham (electoral district), New Brunswic ...

, England and the other in Ellingsøy, Norway. File:Molins autoloader and 6-pounder gun WWII IWM A 25162.jpg, 6-pounder (57 mm) gun with Molins autoloader mounted on a Fairmile D File:Molins autoloader and 6-pounder gun WWII IWM A 25159.jpg, Back view of the same gun File:MTB459-4.jpg, ''MTB 459'', 1944 File:Canadian MTB727.jpg, ''MTB 727'', 1944

Notes

References

* Lambert, John. ''Fairmile D Motor Torpedo Boat.'' (

Anatomy of the Ship series The ''Anatomy of the Ship'' series of books are comprehensive treatments of the design and construction of individual ships. They have been published by Conway Maritime Press (now Conway Publishing) since the 1980s, and republished in the US by th ...

) 1985 * Lambert, John and Ross, Al. ''Allied Coastal Forces of World War Two, Volume I : Fairmile designs and US Submarine Chasers.'' 1990. * Konstam, Angus. ''British Motor Torpedo Boat 1939–45.'' (New Vanguard). Osprey 2003. * Konstam, Angus. ''British Motor Gun Boat 1939-45'' (New Vanguard) Osprey 2010 978-1849080774 * Chesneau, Roger (editor).''Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946''. London, UK: Comway Maritime Press, 1980. * Reynolds, Leonard C. ''Motor Gunboat 658: The Small Boat War in the Mediterranean'' 1955/2002.

External links

Coastal Forces And Communications with France Before D Day 1944
{{WWIICoastalForces Military boats Ships of the Royal Navy Motor torpedo boats of the Royal Navy Patrol boat classes Auxiliary search and rescue ship classes Gunboat classes Torpedo boat classes

History

See also

Notes

References

External links